Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 30: 593–607, 2006 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1066-8926 print/1521-0413 online DOI: 10.1080/10668920500210217
MULTIPLE CHOICES, MULTIPLE CHANCES: FOSTERING RE-ENTRY PATHWAYS FOR FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS
Amy E. Ryken University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington, USA Student or program deficiencies are the classic explanation for student departure from community college partners of career technical education programs. However, a complex set of factors impact college attendance, persistence, and departure decision-making. Participants’ experiences both within and outside program structures can reshape long-term goals. Based on a 7-year study of a population of 256 students, this article examines detailed case studies of 2 students’ experiences leaving and reentering community college. It reveals how one program supported multiple exit and entry points. Interconnected educational and career pathways were made visible with the creation of a visual model that situated program experiences in a broader educational and career pathway. Additionally, both the use of creative solutions and adherence to rigid program parameters impacted students’ career and educational trajectories. For more effective results, programs should support parallel career planning and encourage participants to question program structures in relation to their needs.
This is a case study of a best practice program that linked high school, community college, and biotechnology laboratory employment. It illustrates how combining academic and vocational experiences in a comprehensive career technical education program gives students an understanding of multiple pathways for their future—and alternative routes when choices do not go as planned. Figure 1 shows key program components, career and educational pathways, and re-entry pathways. Holly A. Senn took time away from her artistic endeavors to provide constructive critique on evolving versions of this work. University of California, Berkeley colleagues W. Norton Grubb, Joseph Flessa, and Becky Cox supported my growing interest in the experiences of community college students in ongoing conversations about higher education, research design and data analysis. Address correspondence to Amy E. Ryken, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., CMB 1051, Tacoma, WA 98416. E-mail:
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The program design linked three distinct settings and, thus, reflects elements of tech prep (Bragg et al., 1997; Cooper, 2002) and school-tocareer initiatives (Castellano, Stringfield, & Stone, 2003; Grubb, Badway, Bell, & Kraskouskas, 1996; Pedraza, Pauly, & Kopp, 1997). As with tech prep initiatives, the program pathway linked high school and community college experiences. In keeping with school-to-career initiatives, the program linked school-based and work-based learning experiences. The program used youth development best practices by placing students in responsible roles, approaching services comprehensively, and having a well defined program (De Alba-Johnson, 2003). The occupational focus was envisioned as a life-long journey involving education and employment, rather than as participation in a short-term program during the high school and college years (Hamilton & Hamilton, 1997; School-to-Work Task Force, 1999). Linking different contexts provides opportunities for students to learn in context, participate in different social interactions, and practice skills in a variety of domains (Bailey, Hughes, & Moore, 2004). But, even in a structured program, students’ pathways become more complicated than a linear trajectory (e.g., on Figure 1, moving from one shaded box to the next) would suggest. Providing assistance and support, and emphasizing parallel career planning, are important strategies in helping all students become academically
Figure 1.
Education/career path options.
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engaged to meet high standards (National Research Council, 2004). Being provided with access to work experiences and a clear pathway that links school and work enables students to envision a future in science and discover career preferences. Students’ needs and interests may not align with program experience timelines, and thus flexible entry and exit points respond to the variety of factors that impact the decision-making of each student. The program provided students with multiple, interconnected, educational and career pathways that lead to nontechnical, technical and professional careers in biotechnology. This paper considers the following questions: 1. How does a program support multiple entry and exit points on a structured educational and career pathway? 2. To what extent are students encouraged to think critically about work and educational choices, both within and outside the prescribed pathway? 3. What are the policy tradeoffs involved with certain program structures? METHODOLOGY As a comprehensive research strategy, case studies are especially well suited to investigations that examine contextual conditions (Yin, 1994). In this inquiry, case study methodology was used to examine how students (particularly students with little, if any, personal or familial connection to college) define and experience challenges and opportunities as they make the transition from high school to college. Student participants are “an embedded unit of analysis” (Yin, 1993, p. 83) within the case of a best practice career technical education program. Research Site The population studied over 7 years was a group of 256 students participating in a biotechnology career technical education program. This program linked two high school career academies, one community college, and over 40 biotechnology laboratories in the San Francisco Bay Area. Students participated in a coherent sequence of work-based and schoolbased learning activities. These included science coursework during 2 years of high school and 1 year of community college, paid summer internships as high school students, and paid year-round co-op jobs as community college students. In Figure 1, shaded boxes represent the structured educational and employment pathway of the program.
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Program participation was voluntary and targeted to ethnically and linguistically diverse students who may not have otherwise had access to either the community college environment or biotechnology laboratory settings. Of the program participants, 53.6% were African American, 21.6% Latino/a, 16.5% Asian, and 8.1% White. Females and males were equally represented. Over 50% of students were the first in their family to graduate from high school, and over 80% were the first in their family to be enrolled in a postsecondary program. Quantitative analysis of student participation in the program (Ryken, 2004) revealed that over 50% of community college entrants completed the biotechnology certificate, and that internships and co-op jobs were an important factor in college retention and completion. The community college certificate was completed by 69% of Latino participants compared to 42% of African American participants, 64% of Asian participants, and 83% of White participants. In contrast, a study of the sub-baccalaureate labor market found that only 30% of community college entrants earn sub-baccalaureate credentials, and that 50% drop out without completing any credentials (Grubb, 1996). DESCRIPTIVE CASE STUDY DESIGN: REPLICATION LOGIC This descriptive case study was organized using cross-case replication logic where cases were intentionally selected to mirror similar and different intervention conditions (Yin, 1993). Table 1 summarizes the research design and data sources used, emphasizing the logic used at each phase of data collection. It also demonstrates a comprehensive research strategy that included program document analysis, quantitative cohort analysis of all 256 student participants, file analysis of 61 student participants, and interviews with 22 student participants. Selection of students was based on their completion of program milestones. Note that the table situates data collected about two profiled students within a broader research design framework. The two students’ experiences reflect similar intervention conditions. Both completed the high school program and reentered the community college program after a gap in enrollment—one after taking courses to transfer to a 4-year college, and the other after working in a series of jobs. The data sources are unusually comprehensive in that they represent program participation over a 3-to-6-year period for each student, across three diverse settings—high school, community college, and work. The rich data sources provide detailed evidence about how students make decisions to continue (or not) on an educational and career pathway. As Miles and Huberman (1994) highlight the need for data reduction, display, and verification, file analysis in this study began with organizing
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Table 1. Case study replication logic Unit of analysis: Biotechnology career technical education program Number of students 256
Replication logic (identifying similar and different intervention conditions) Best Practice Program. No comparison case at program level of analysis.
Data sources Program documents (e.g., program descriptions, curriculum material, mission statement). Analysis of company participation in work experiences by company type.
Embedded unit of analysis: Student participants 256
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11th graders who began the program, Longitudinal cohort analyses, those who continued to the 12th grade, calculating persistence and those who went to a 2-year or 4-year attrition rates for nine cohorts. college, those who completed the community college biotechnology certificate, and those who dropped out. Representative percentages, based on Program files: program application, cohort analysis, of students who had gone applications for internships and to a 2-year or 4-year college, those who co-op jobs, written learning completed the community college objectives, supervisors’ ratings, biotechnology certificate, and those who written co-op papers, community had dropped out. college applications and resumes. Students who had gone to a 2-year or Interview: interview guides focused 4-year college, those who completed the on experiences in community community college biotechnology college and high school, co-op jobs certificate or were still enrolled, and those and internships, and structures who dropped out. that helped students complete the program. Two Latino male students who left the All data sources listed above. community college program and re-entered the program 2 years later.
materials chronologically to understand each student’s educational and career decision-making over time. After completing the initial inventory, each file was read again. This time notations were made about emerging themes. The themes during this initial coding included: social support, career and educational goals, high school versus college, work versus school, expectations, industry knowledge, equipment/instruments, combining theory and practice, communication/language, time, motivating factors, and future plans. Those themes were then consolidated into four major categories/codes: a) skill building, b) career pathway, c) relationship building, and d) youth participation. Interview transcripts were then analyzed using this coding scheme to verify findings in the file analysis. The career pathway coding category (the focus of this analysis)
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included information on the variety of ways that students used the program structures—and resources outside program experiences—to meet their goals. These included choosing to work in jobs not related to biotechnology, deciding to enter a 4-year college (rather than matriculate to the community college partner), and begining new studies in fields like art and architecture. ENTRY AND EXIT PATHWAYS OF TWO STUDENTS The American educational system with its identified procedures for upward progress to a higher level of the educational system (e.g., earning a credential or taking an entrance exam), “has made the progression through the system relatively transparent” (Grubb & Lazseron, 2004, p. 137); however, “the system is still not well understood by many students and their families, particularly those without much schooling and those who are new to this country” (p. 138). Community college students typically follow nontraditional attendance patterns that impact their persistence to earn a degree (e.g., delaying college enrollment, attending college part-time, or having gaps in college enrollment) (Bailey et al., 2004). Thus, “…community college students are a relatively distinct group who would not have enrolled at a 4-year college, because of costs, distance and unfamiliarity” (Grubb & Lazerson, 2004, p. 94). Understanding and acknowledging these patterns within program design is more important than trying to model community college after the residential 4-year college experience (Bailey et al., 2004). Progression pathways from high school to college are not transparent for many community college students. Presented in the following section are two portraits of male-Latino, first-generation college students who left community college (one to attend another community college, the other to move and take a job) and re-entered the program 2 years later. These cases were selected to demonstrate the range of factors students consider when making educational and career decisions, and the way in which gaps in enrollment may help students clarify goals. In addition, the cases highlight how career technical education programs can both support and constrain student development. Miguel: I Need to be Sure About What I Want After completing the high school portion of the career technical biotechnology program, Miguel reported on a college planning survey that he planned to forego the community college program in order to attend a
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4-year college. Unable to afford his first choice, he entered another community college and began classes to earn an associate in science degree and to eventually transfer to a 4-year college. After taking core requirements for 2 years, he lost focus and dropped out. Miguel’s experiences demonstrate a re-entry pathway from an associate in science degree focus to a certificate program. Like many first generation Americans, Miguel was very motivated to attend college. As a high school sophomore he wrote on the program application, I would like to be in the Biotech Academy because I can gain more skills that can help me out in life. It can also help me out to get into a community college when I get out of high school. It can help me learn a new skill to get ahead and be more educated. Taking this class will give me more skills to get ahead in society.
Upon program entry in the 10th grade, Miguel sought skills and a pathway to help him achieve a community college education and “to get ahead in society.” During his 11th grade summer internship, Miguel worked at a large biotechnology production facility’s quality assurance department where he performed protein assays and gel electrophoresis. During his senior year, Miguel reported on the college planning survey that he was debating whether to attend a 4-year college or the partner community college. He decided to attend a 4-year college. In a scholarship essay Miguel highlighted the pressure he felt as the first in his family to go to college. His comments reflect the role that parents play in shaping how students view educational options. Pase lo que pase, sigue adelante (Whatever happens, keep going). These words have been inscribed in my mind ever since I can remember. My parents came to this county about 30 years ago. Throughout those years they sacrificed many things to ensure my brother and I would have a worry free life. They came to this country, not even having completed the second grade in Mexico. All their young lives have been focused on working and helping to support their family. Since my parents did not finish school, the pressure has been on me to continue my education and to be the first in my family to go to college.
Miguel graduated high school with a 3.5 grade point average (3.8 GPA in biotechnology program courses). Although he chose not to continue to the community college partner after high school, the program adjusted to support his needs. By program design, the community college component involved working in a year-round co-op job. Miguel was not officially
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enrolled and, therefore, not eligible for a co-op job. Nevertheless, a second summer internship at the biotechnology production facility was secured for him (normally students had one internship before progressing to a co-op job.). Thus, his program participation was extended until college courses began in the fall. That summer, after reviewing student loan documents, he realized the financial costs of attending a 4-year college. In the interview segment below, Miguel reflects on decisions he made at that time, and emphasizes how his focus changed from completing college in 4 years to taking a long-term approach to his goals. It is interesting to note that when his plans for 4-year college changed, he then chose to attend another community college. At that time, his focus was on finishing college in 4 years. And, yet, focus was still elusive. So I was going to go to 4-year, but when I found out how much it really was I said, I’ll just go to community college. I think the reason I didn’t go to the biotech program the first time was because I was focused on getting out, finishing in 4 years, in and out, 4 years. So I went to another community college for 2 years. It was like I was on idle doing nothing. I was taking classes, but not for my major. I knew I needed to refocus because science is hard. It is nothing easy, and I think I can get all the help here. I learned that I have to be sure what I want, look at my options. My attitude now about finishing in 4 years is that it is not going to happen. I’m going to take my time. The way I see it is, as long as you know where you are going it doesn’t matter how long it takes you.
Miguel viewed the career technical education program as a resource to help him refocus on goals for a scientific career. For example, he noted, “I knew I needed to refocus because science is hard. It is nothing easy and I think I can get all the help here.” His experience illustrates that being the first in the family to go to college, and hoping to complete a degree in a certain amount of time, are important motivators for students who choose to attend a 4-year college after high school. It also highlights that acceptance to a 4-year college does not always result in attendance. Miguel’s trajectory also illustrates that students’ goals are not static and are shaped by a variety of experiences (in his case, reviewing financial aid documents, participating in the biotechnology program, and attending another community college). Showing students multiple education and career paths encourages them to learn a variety of options to achieve goals. When he wanted to re-enter the community college biotechnology program, Miguel contacted program staff and inquired about returning, saying, “I always remember you said we are here if you decide to come
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back.” He decided to re-enter the program, applied for a co-op job, and began taking the required science courses. Miguel’s story reveals that the program provided him with multiple entry points: first in the form of a second internship to support his transition to another college and, second, 2 years after leaving the program, an opportunity to re-enroll in the program’s community college science courses and year round co-op job. His experiences in another community college—taking multiple prerequisites unrelated to an A.S. degree—and transfer goals gave Miguel an opportunity to realize the value of the program’s focus on work experience paired with science courses that counted for an A.S. degree. Clarke (1960) describes the “cooling out” function of community colleges where movement to academic goals is stalled through enrollment in remedial courses and course counseling. Thus, the student whose initial goal was to transfer instead decides to complete a terminal vocational degree. Dougherty (1994) highlights that community colleges are especially harmful to baccalaureate aspirants who move from academic work to vocationally oriented programs. One reading of Miguel’s experience is that the program failed him by focusing on a 2-year college pathway when he had an ambition to attend a 4-year college. However, through the lens of multiple pathways, his experiences can be seen as a success because he proved resilient and utilized the skills of parallel career planning. Luis: I Didn’t Have a Future in that Place After completing the high school portion of the program, Luis continued on to the community college partner. However, he dropped out after failing two required science courses (biology and inorganic chemistry). Because he failed to pass the courses, he was released from his co-op job at the end of the semester. Shortly afterwards he moved to San Diego. A year later, after working in a series of nontechnical jobs, he moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area and re-entered community college. Luis’ experiences illustrate a re-entry pathway from nontechnical work to a certificate program. Like Miguel, Luis’ family had immigrated to America. When Luis was in elementary school he moved to the United States from Peru with his mother, father, and two older sisters. As a high school sophomore he wrote on the program application, “I really enjoy learning science, and I would like to continue working with science in my future, and I think that the biotech academy will help me for my future.” Like Miguel, Luis’ comments revealed a hope that the program would help him achieve his goals; but, his goals for college attendance were not explicitly stated. In contrast, Miguel’s goal to attend community college was explicitly stated.
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The summer between 11th and 12th grade, Luis worked in an internship at a large biotechnology production facility where he sterilized equipment. On the internship evaluation his supervisor wrote, “Luis’ job performance generally exceeds the normal expectations.” In the student comment section Luis wrote, “All my supervisors have been great and have done a good job in teaching me things about my work area.” While it is not clear from these comments that Luis saw connections between his high school courses and his internship duties, it is clear that he enjoyed positive relationships with his supervisor and coworkers, and felt that he had learned about biotechnology production. In November of his senior year Luis was planning to attend a 4-year state college, but he wanted to have a co-op job in college. On a college planning survey he asked, “Can you do co-op if you attend a different college, e.g., state college?” By March he had changed his mind, deciding to attend the partner community college in order to work in a co-op job. In preparation for a co-op job he filled out an application, stating, “I want to participate because I learned a lot from my summer internship and I want to learn more by doing the co-op program and it also helps me for my future career in biotechnology.” Luis’ emphasis was on having a career in biotechnology, and he sought opportunities to learn while working. Working in a co-op job while in college was an important factor in Luis’ decision-making. After graduating from high school with a 1.7 grade point average (3.0 GPA in biotechnology program courses), Luis began his co-op job, returning to the same biotechnology company where he had had an internship. This time he worked as a fermentation biotechnician. In the fall Luis enrolled in biology and inorganic chemistry courses. He didn’t attend class regularly and didn’t complete required laboratory assignments. However, he had nearly perfect attendance and positive performance evaluations at his co-op job. He later reflected in an interview, “There were a lot of issues at home. My parents were talking about getting separated. I wanted to be mentally free from my parents’ problems.” By the end of the semester Luis had failed both science courses. When the semester ended, he was released from his co-op job because he had not met the program requirement to pass at least one science course each semester. Luis enrolled in the spring semester to repeat the two courses he had failed. But he no longer had a co-op job. His supervisor had agreed to let Luis return to his job after successfully passing at least one science course. Luis lost interest in his courses. Two weeks into the spring semester he moved to San Diego. In San Diego he worked in a series of jobs, first at a clothing retailer, then at a movie theater and, finally, in a warehouse. In the interview segment below, Luis describes how coworkers at the warehouse job and his parents helped him think about the future and how,
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like Miguel, he saw the biotechnology program experiences as a way to focus on goals. I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was working to pay rent, I had bills. I was working a job here, stopped liking it after a while, I would leave to go another job. I was working at a Ross. Then I worked at a movie theater for a little bit. When I think it finally hit me was when I was working at a warehouse. A bunch of older people were working there. They would tell me, ‘What are you still doing? Why are you working? Shouldn’t you go back to school?’ That’s the time I started thinking. Do I really want to be in San Diego? By the age of 25 still doing the same thing, not having really nothing to look forward to. So I thought about that for awhile. I talked to my parents and I decided, at least for my future, the best thing would be to come back to the Bay Area and try to get back into the biotech program. That is basically the only career that I have liked. I wanted to come back here and get focused. I want to be able to know that I have a future. At least having something to focus on, rather than being in a different city with a lot more options.
Internships are one important support service that increase the success of students in math and science (Kane, Beals, Valeau, Johnson, 2004). Unlike jobs in retail sales, co-op jobs provide paid work that is related to students’ academic studies and helps them stay focused on school. Grubb and Lazerson (2004) describe the “work-family-school dilemma” (p. 99) in which community college students work to support themselves and/or family while taking college courses. As Luis notes, “I wasn’t really thinking about it, I was working to pay rent, I had bills.” He contrasts this to his experience in the program by saying, “That is basically the only career that I have liked. I wanted to come back here and get focused. I want to be able to know that I have a future.” Here, his emphasis was on how the program focused his work and academic experiences and provided a vision of a future in a career he liked. For Luis, moving to San Diego for 6 months was an opportunity to experience living on his own. In reflecting on the differences between his experiences working in nontechnical jobs and his experiences in the career technical program, Luis talks about the importance of having a vision for his future and progressing towards it. I had a goal. I felt like I was going somewhere here. Over there it was like just finish working. It wasn’t bad, I met people and stuff. I just felt like I didn’t really have a future in that place. Here I knew that I was doing something that was contributing to my future, I had something
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to look forward to in my future, over there I would go to my movie theater job, hopefully working enough hours to pay rent this month.
Luis’ story reveals that sometimes the program structure did not support student needs. He continued in the program in order to work in a co-op job, and removing him from that job because of course failure impacted his desire to take science courses. Luis felt comfortable that he could “come back” to the biotechnology program, and that coming back would help him “get focused.” One reading of Luis’ experience is that the program failed by removing him from his co-op job for poor performance in school. Another reading is that the program instilled in Luis a sense of ownership over his future that helped him evaluate experiences and lack of future growth in the nontechnical jobs. He realized that he liked science and could chose a pathway to achieve his goals. His trajectory suggests that framing program experiences within a broader educational and career pathway helps students do parallel career planning. It also makes visible multiple entry and exit points as options to reach a desired future. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE The program supported multiple entry and exit points by situating program experiences within a broader educational and career pathway (essentially as a part of a life-long journey) and inviting students to re-enter the program at a later point. Rather than framing students’ unique pathways as student or program deficiencies, this exploration revealed how all school and job experiences are potential learning resources that help students clarify educational needs and goals. The case studies also described the kinds of assistance and support that students need in order to work toward their goals. A program document (Figure 1) can show students options and highlight a way to participate amidst a variety of choices. However, it is participation in a school and work settings that helps students face the expansion of choice in higher education, where a wide range of postsecondary institutions (e.g., a variety of 4-year and 2-year colleges) as well as a vast array of programs and courses within institutions (e.g., degree or certificate programs, occupational programs), are offered (Grubb & Lazerson, 2004). Experiences in career technical education programs help students think critically about work and educational choices. Both Miguel and Luis questioned their college options. Miguel felt the community college biotechnology portion of the program would slow his progress through college because of the pairing of school and work experiences. In contrast,
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Luis sought a 4-year college option that would still give him access to a co-op job. The program helped these students consider options beyond the prescribed structure. Because of their experiences in the program, both students recognized how their experiences outside the program were not related to their long-term goals—the program made progression between educational and career goals visible to students and enabled parallel career planning. Program documents are important visual models that make consequences of choices transparent. Figure 1 was used in the program over and over again—at program orientation, parent/guardian information nights, internship/co-op job orientations, college planning sessions, and individual counseling sessions—to illustrate how educational choices and program re-entry choices related to career options. As a result, both students felt they could “come back” to the program. Thus, visually showing re-entry pathways encourages students to see re-entry as a viable option, rather than as a failure. The case studies also demonstrate how using program resources creatively (e.g., offering Miguel a second internship) communicates that the program supports a range of educational choices. On the other hand, the program exhibited rigidness and lack of creativity with Luis, who was released from his co-op job for course failure. He was not offered a second chance even though it was clear that the co-op job was a key factor in his decision to attend community college. A better approach may have been to have him take one science course at a time, given the fact he entered college with a 1.7 GPA and probably needed extra support to be successful. It is important to use program documents and interviews to determine students’ needs, interests, and motivations for participation. This makes it possible to use program resources (e.g., courses, internships, co-op jobs) creatively to meet students’ needs. A complex set of factors impact decision-making as students negotiate the diverse contexts of high school, college, and work. These factors should not be framed as student or program deficiencies; instead programs can focus on the broad goal of responsiveness and enabling students to utilize parallel career planning. Both Miguel and Luis used their experiences at another community college and in nonbiotechnology work experiences to clarify and refine their goals. This article demonstrates that reframing this phenomenon as a learning experience highlights otherwise neglected ways of supporting student growth. Working toward the goal of responsiveness, program designers should focus on the nontraditional enrollment patterns of community college students. Programs can define, publish and review key program experiences (Figure 1’s shaded boxes) and flexible pathways and re-entry points (Figure 1’s arrows) regularly with program participants. Students’ needs and interests may not align
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with program experience timelines. Thus, flexible entry and exit points respond to the variety of factors and experiences that impact the decisionmaking of each student.
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